My name is Fiona Knight. That day, a woman named Camila Acosta came to my lottery shop claiming she had won a hundred million dollars.
She held up a lottery ticket and shouted at the camera, "I won a hundred million dollars! But the shop owner saw I’m from the
countryside and refused to cash my prize!"
"Tomorrow is the deadline to claim the prize. My parents are still in the hospital, waiting for this money to save their lives!"
She pointed the camera at me.
Viewers in the livestream started cursing at me.
[This shop owner is so cruel! That’s her parents’ life-saving money!]
[Cash the prize immediately! Or we’ll all come and smash your store!]
I just looked at the camera coldly and said, "Cash the prize? Impossible. You can sue me in court."
My words ignited the anger of the viewers.
They all offered to help Camila send me to jail.
But she hesitated and refused, "I'm just a rural person, I don't dare to cause trouble, I just want to get back my parents'
life-saving money."
When the viewers heard this, they cursed me even more harshly.
"You scumbag! How dare you bully an honest rural person like this! You’re absolutely heartless!"
"If you don't give the prize, just go die!"
"How can someone like you exist in society? Are you deaf? Her parents are waiting for this money to save their lives!"
I looked at the flood of foul language in the livestream, but my face remained expressionless.
Suddenly, Camila knelt down in front of me.
Her forehead slammed heavily onto the ground, and blood quickly seeped from her temple.
She raised her blood-covered face and hoarsely begged me, "Miss, I beg you, please let me claim the prize. My parents are still in
the hospital waiting for me."
"I know you look down on us rural folks, but that's my parents' life-saving money."
"Those are two living lives, please let me claim the prize!"
She clutched my pant leg, her voice trembling. "As long as you're willing to let me claim the prize, I'm willing to give you
half!"
"I swear, we can sign a contract. I'm willing to give you half the prize money, as long as you're willing to let me claim it."
"I beg you, tomorrow is the final deadline."
Her words won the sympathy of the livestream viewers.
But I remained unmoved, calmly repeating, "I won't claim this prize. If you have any objections, just take me to court."
The comment section was flooded with another wave of insults.
[You're just a lottery shop owner, why are you acting so high and mighty?]
[What gives you the right not to redeem the prize? Just wait to go to jail!]
[I've never seen such an arrogant lottery shop owner in my life. Are you even human? Redeem the prize now!]
[Are you going through menopause? If you want to die, just go ahead!]
I ignored the insults, turned around, entered the shop, and locked the glass door.
Outside, only Camila's hoarse cries remained.
At this moment, someone online recognized me.
[Isn't this the lottery shop I often visit? I buy a lottery ticket there once a week, and the owner is quite friendly.]
[Yeah, I also often buy lottery tickets at this shop. I have pretty good luck and occasionally win small prizes. She has never
refused to pay out.]
[Yeah, my friend even won a hundred thousand dollars.]
But these faint voices were immediately drowned out by the netizens' scolding.
[I think you all have no conscience. Did this woman hire someone to clear her name so quickly?]
[You're accomplices too, go to jail together!]
[She's a good person? Nonsense! That girl was waiting for the money to save her parents' lives, so why wouldn't she cash the
lottery ticket? It's clearly malicious!]
Those who spoke up for me quickly fell silent.
The entire morning passed, and Camila knelt outside with a pale face.
No matter how she begged, I sat there coldly, saying nothing.
My name is Fiona Knight. That day, a woman named Camila Acosta came to my lottery shop claiming she had won a hundred million dollars.
She held up a lottery ticket and shouted at the camera, "I won a hundred million dollars! But the shop owner saw I’m from the
countryside and refused to cash my prize!"
"Tomorrow is the deadline to claim the prize. My parents are still in the hospital, waiting for this money to save their lives!"
She pointed the camera at me.
Viewers in the livestream started cursing at me.
[This shop owner is so cruel! That’s her parents’ life-saving money!]
[Cash the prize immediately! Or we’ll all come and smash your store!]
I just looked at the camera coldly and said, "Cash the prize? Impossible. You can sue me in court."
My words ignited the anger of the viewers.
They all offered to help Camila send me to jail.
But she hesitated and refused, "I'm just a rural person, I don't dare to cause trouble, I just want to get back my parents'
life-saving money."
When the viewers heard this, they cursed me even more harshly.
"You scumbag! How dare you bully an honest rural person like this! You’re absolutely heartless!"
"If you don't give the prize, just go die!"
"How can someone like you exist in society? Are you deaf? Her parents are waiting for this money to save their lives!"
I looked at the flood of foul language in the livestream, but my face remained expressionless.
Suddenly, Camila knelt down in front of me.
Her forehead slammed heavily onto the ground, and blood quickly seeped from her temple.
She raised her blood-covered face and hoarsely begged me, "Miss, I beg you, please let me claim the prize. My parents are still in
the hospital waiting for me."
"I know you look down on us rural folks, but that's my parents' life-saving money."
"Those are two living lives, please let me claim the prize!"
She clutched my pant leg, her voice trembling. "As long as you're willing to let me claim the prize, I'm willing to give you
half!"
"I swear, we can sign a contract. I'm willing to give you half the prize money, as long as you're willing to let me claim it."
"I beg you, tomorrow is the final deadline."
Her words won the sympathy of the livestream viewers.
But I remained unmoved, calmly repeating, "I won't claim this prize. If you have any objections, just take me to court."
The comment section was flooded with another wave of insults.
[You're just a lottery shop owner, why are you acting so high and mighty?]
[What gives you the right not to redeem the prize? Just wait to go to jail!]
[I've never seen such an arrogant lottery shop owner in my life. Are you even human? Redeem the prize now!]
[Are you going through menopause? If you want to die, just go ahead!]
I ignored the insults, turned around, entered the shop, and locked the glass door.
Outside, only Camila's hoarse cries remained.
At this moment, someone online recognized me.
[Isn't this the lottery shop I often visit? I buy a lottery ticket there once a week, and the owner is quite friendly.]
[Yeah, I also often buy lottery tickets at this shop. I have pretty good luck and occasionally win small prizes. She has never
refused to pay out.]
[Yeah, my friend even won a hundred thousand dollars.]
But these faint voices were immediately drowned out by the netizens' scolding.
[I think you all have no conscience. Did this woman hire someone to clear her name so quickly?]
[You're accomplices too, go to jail together!]
[She's a good person? Nonsense! That girl was waiting for the money to save her parents' lives, so why wouldn't she cash the
lottery ticket? It's clearly malicious!]
Those who spoke up for me quickly fell silent.
The entire morning passed, and Camila knelt outside with a pale face.
No matter how she begged, I sat there coldly, saying nothing.
Early the next morning, I got a call from the shop owner next door.
Her tone was extremely anxious. "Fiona, what on earth are you doing? Hurry up and cash in the lottery!"
"Do you know how many people are crowding at your shop's door right now?"
"Your shop door has already been splashed with paint, and even those of us who spoke up for you are getting dragged into this!"
Hearing the noisy shouting and cursing on the other end of the line, I said nothing and directly hung up the phone.
At that moment, someone opened my door.
My husband Henry Parker and daughter Bella Parker, who were supposed to return the day after tomorrow, stood at the door.
As soon as Henry walked in, he anxiously asked me, "What's going on online? Why aren't you giving out the prize?"
Seeing that I didn’t respond, he continued, “Do you have any idea how scary netizens can be? They’ve already dug up information
about Bella and me!”
"Go claim the prize immediately, I'll drive you there."
I stepped aside to avoid his reaching hand. "I won't give her the prize."
Henry frowned and questioned, "What's wrong with you? You run a lottery shop, a customer wins, and you refuse to pay? What does
that mean?"
Bella whispered, "Mom, you’re not really thinking of keeping the money like they’re saying online, are you?"
"But even if she doesn't take out the winning ticket, you still won't get the money."
"Didn't you hear her? Her parents are in the hospital waiting for this money to save their lives!"
Looking at their anxious expressions, I calmly said, "I told you, I won't cash this lottery ticket."
Henry immediately got angry upon hearing this and grabbed my hand, trying to drag me out. "I think you've really lost it!"
"Do you have to ruin all of us before you're satisfied?"
"My boss already recognized you! He called and told me to sort out my family issues quickly, or I won't get the promotion!"
Bella sobbed, "Mom, my classmates are all laughing at me, saying you bully people from the countryside. What's wrong with you? You
weren't like this before!"
Seeing her in tears, my heart ached terribly.
But in the end, I just trembled and said, "I still stand by my words, I will never give her the prize."
Henry stared at me for a few seconds and said, "If you refuse to give her the prize, then we'll get a divorce!"
"Bella's custody goes to me. If you're willing to be the sinner and face the consequences, we won't."
I took a deep breath and finally nodded in agreement.
Henry, furious, packed up with Bella and left.
Not long after, my mom called. "Fiona! We told you not to open a lottery shop, but you insisted.
"Now, you refuse to give customers their prizes, making such a mess. You've completely embarrassed your dad and me. From now on,
just stay out there and never come back!"
After hanging up, I realized my mom had removed me from the family group chat.
All the relatives in the family also blocked and deleted me.
At this moment, I looked at the clock on the wall, and it pointed exactly to ten o'clock.
Great, the lottery redemption deadline has passed.
